PRO-GUN BILL PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULED

Public hearings have been scheduled for all of the pro-gun bills that passed their original chamber. These bills must be heard, and pass out of, their new committee by next Friday, 4 April. House Bill 1408 (recognizes out-of-state CPLs) was heard in the Senate Law & Justice Committee yesterday (27 March). Several gun owners attended the hearing and at least three had the opportunity to testify. There was NO testimony AGAINST the bill!

Five additional pro-gun bills will be heard next Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday (1 April) is the big day, with three bills in Senate Law & Justice and one more in House Education. If you can take an afternoon off to visit Olympia, THIS IS THE DAY TO SHOW OUR SUPPORT. Visitors should sign in on each bill sign-up sheet, indicating "pro" for your position on these bills: HBs 1541, 1716 and 1978. You DO NOT have to testify, although you may do so if you wish. The hearing schedule follows:

TELEPHONE CALLS NEEDED: Call your individual legislators and give them this message:

VOTE YES ON HBs 1408, 1541, 1716 and 1978 AND ON SB 5326 and SJM 8009!

You can reach your legislators by calling the Legislative Hotline at
1-800-562-6000. Toll free!!! The hearing impaired may obtain TDD access at 1-800-635-9993. Also toll free!!!
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A CALL TO ARMS: We're rapidly approaching the point where "the rubber meets the road." Six pro-gun bills are in the home stretch. With continued pressure from you, the responsible pro-gun public, your legislators will soon have the opportunity to show their true colors on the issue of freedom and our firearm rights (the two can't be separated; take either one away and the other will follow). Call YOUR legislators and let them know where YOU stand on these critical issues.

GUN GRABBERS TO "BUY" INITIATIVE 676: An examination of Public Disclosure Commission records reveals "Citizens for Handgun Safety" has successfully added more than $26,000 to their bank account in their attempt to buy a new gun control law. Two individual donors gave $10,000 EACH, while others gave amounts ranging from $2,000 to $25. More cash will flow as they get closer to their goal.

The downside of the initiative process is the ability of backers to pump money into the effort, paying signature gatherers and buying advertising space to promote the initiative. We saw this last year in Initiative 655, where animal rights extremists poured more than $500,000 into the state to limit lawful methods of hunting. Don't let that happen with your right to own a handgun!

LEGISLATIVE SHOOT-OUT CANCELLED: Due to a weeklong rainfall, we had to cancel the 7th annual Legislative Shoot-out. Although the sun finally broke through the clouds on the actual day of the shoot, we had four inches of standing water on the rifle and pistol ranges.

We're taking a quick look at rescheduling the shoot-out later in the session, but the train may be moving too fast at this point. As much as we enjoy the time spent on the range with our lawmakers, playing "show & tell" and giving them a better appreciation of what firearms and shooting are all about, at this point it's more important to have them at work, passing our bills.

HB 2078: HB 2078 (safe storage of firearms with criminal penalties if a firearm is accessed by a child, even if no discharge or injury occurs) remains bottled up in House Rules. Intense pressure on the Speaker by Rep. Ida Ballasiotes and a bloc of liberal Republicans has kept the bill alive, although equally intense pressure from our side has prevented it from coming to the floor for a vote. Existing reckless endangerment laws ALREADY PENALIZE anyone who places another person at risk of death or serious injury. We DON'T NEED another gun control law. Keep the pressure on YOUR lawmakers to vote NO on HB 2078.

OTHER DATA: Copies of pending legislation (bills), legislative schedules and other information are available through "gopher" at the Washington State Legislative Information stop, or on the legislature's web site at www.leg.wa.gov. You may also obtain hard copy bills, initiatives, etc., in the mail from the Legislative Bill Room FREE OF CHARGE by calling 1-360-786-7573. You may also hear floor and committee hearing action live at www.tvw.org.

GET THE WORD OUT: If you want to subscribe to the Goal Post by e-mail, send a message to "jwaldron@halcyon.com". Please pass Goal Post on to anyone you believe may have an interest in protecting our rights. Better yet, make a couple of copies of this message and leave them with your local gun shop(s). Or have them call me and ask to be placed on the fax distribution list. I can be reached at "jwaldron@halcyon.com" or (sometimes) by telephone/voice mail at 1-360-754-9782, Unfortunately, I have neither the time, the staff, nor the stamps to mail Goal Post to individuals. :-(

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Next WAC gun show, ISSAQUAH, Saturday/Sunday, 12-13 April 1997
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"The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men."

Article 1, Section 24
Constitution of the State of Washington